When you do not have the courage
to stand up in the face of corruption,
you lose a precious piece of yourself.
A piece that was earned
through great effort and much challenge.
That piece is called integrity.
When you move from the place of attempting
to protect corrupted things or things
that are completely false
you lose more than just
the carefully cultivated integrity.
You lose a piece of yourself.
You lose the many pieces
that were held together by that integrity.
You lose trust in yourself and others.
You lose the respect of others
and you lose standing
in how you are seen in the world.
You lose your uniqueness and special magic
that made your actions sparkle and shine bright.
And that light cannot be quickly reclaimed.
From that point on, you are forever dimmed
in a way that others will see.
A lack of integrity leaves a hollow, shallow,
and weak projection of your life force
because you gave it away
to the darkness and distortion
that you believed would give you
power that you had not yet earned.

~Suzanne Wagner~